#(ayano 01)

The little cafe around him was on the quiet side, thankfully. Norman didn’t think he could take any more of the grocery store’s bustle, or the deafening silence of his apartment when his servant wasn’t there, or the confusing maze of streets outside. It was just a few others minding their own business, and himself, seated at a table with an untouched cup of tea and a series of job applications spread out before him. (Not that he was focused on those.) He could see why cafes were nice social settings in a lot of books he’d read.

But now? Now, instead of the bustle and confusion of the rest of the world, he had to deal with the twisting in his chest that arose any time he wasn’t sufficiently occupied.

A constant undercurrent of fear and worry was no stranger to him. He’d been living with that for months in a far more drastic situation than this. But then, he’d had his siblings, his best friends, to support him, to share the burden where they could. Not all of it, no, but...everything that he could let them share. And even with the rest, they carried him through without knowing it. He could survive, he could manage, if only he just --

If only he knew they were safe. (If he knew that much, it didn’t really matter if he survived.)

He unclasped his hands and ran one over his face. He’d sat down to try to fill out these applications, only to realize he didn’t have anything to write with. And then, trying to read them to at least know what he would write, he realized he didn’t even know how to fill out some of these things, or where to begin. One thought led to another, how he wished he had Emma and Ray here to try to figure it out with them, and how he missed them, and...

He couldn’t get caught up thinking about that. Couldn’t afford to. The feeling in his chest would eat him alive. And there were things right in front of him to worry about first -- gotta start somewhere, right? The young man lifted his head and leaned slightly from his booth to get the attention of the person at the table a few feet away, putting on a polite smile.

“Excuse me. Do you have a pen I could borrow?”

Only having a sandwich for lunch today was starting to prove to be a poor idea. Then again, he wasn’t expecting the announcement to come up a few hours later, signifying the start of this…scavenger hunt? Mission? Whatever this is. Either way, it’s something to do. While five million SSR was too large of a money pool for Goro to use, there were far more interesting advantages that came with this activity.

But for now, he’s taking a well-deserved break in the shade. He’s gotten a fair amount of fragments already, but a few more won’t hurt. Well, once he’s gotten some of his energy back. Gloved hands took a peek of his growing collection, biting his lip in the process.